


"Some With Arrows, Some With Traps"

by MedieavalBeabe



Category: FrozenDuchess - Fandom, Loki/Georgiana - Fandom
Genre: EvilLoki, Friendship, Gen, Hate to Love, Hurt, Kissing, Loki Does What He Wants, Loki Needs a Hug, Loyalty, Mentions of Rape, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Thor: The Dark World, Romance, So does Georgiana, Threats, True Love, Unrequited Love, falling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 23:41:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5352770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedieavalBeabe/pseuds/MedieavalBeabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Loki is imprisoned for his crimes on Earth. Georgiana is the guard assigned to bring him his meals. At first it is a match made in Hell with the Dark Prince and Asgard's toughest guard intent on hating one another. But sometimes hatred can just be another path to love...</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Some With Arrows, Some With Traps"

**Author's Note:**

> (Title comes from Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare – “Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”)

“I don’t envy you, Georgiana,” said the Captain of the Guards as she walked past him and into the dungeons, carrying a tray of food.

 

She stopped and frowned up at him. “What do you mean?”

 

“Having to play chef to the Dark Prince,” the Captain elaborated.

 

Given that she had been employed by Odin the AllFather not long after the famous act of treason by his youngest son, involving the Frost Giants and an attempt on the Crown Prince’s life, Georgiana had never met the Dark Prince personally, although she knew what she considered to be quite a lot about him based on stories she had been told by her fellow guards, and things she had overheard Prince Thor saying to his friends. She knew that he had followed up his attempt to take over Asgard with an attempt to take over Midgard, an attempt that had only been stopped by Thor and his new friends who called themselves the Avengers. She knew too that the only reason that he hadn’t been immediately executed for his crimes was because his family still felt some compassion towards him and were hoping that somewhere inside him was the good young Prince they had once known and still loved and that maybe, just maybe, he could come back to them someday.

 

With a determined look, she stuck her chin out and smiled up at her Captain. “What; you think I can’t handle it, Captain?”

 

He laughed. “Oh, I’m sure you can, Georgiana; but it’s not a job I would choose to do.”

 

“Well, if he gives me any grief, I still have my sword,” Georgiana reminded him, before turning and making her way to the young Prince’s cell.

 

Inside, Loki was lying on his back on the narrow, single bed that was one of the few pieces of furniture in the whole cell (the others being a small table and a chair) and brooding. If he was completely honest, there was a tiny part of him that regretted invading Midgard (after all, it was a small, un-magically-advanced realm and hadn’t really deserved any of what had happened to him) and a somewhat larger part that was regretting having permanently damaged his relationship with Thor.

 

Life had been rather fun with his brother by his side, even if it did occasionally have its downside. Couldn’t Thor see that he wanted to get that back? Hadn’t he realised when Loki had feebly stabbed him up on Stark Tower during the Chitauri attack that his heart really wasn’t in trying to hurt his brother? It had been a tiny movement, a distraction, to keep up the illusion he was still on the Chitauri side, because otherwise he knew he would have faced worst torture at Thanos’s hands than he had the first time.

 

He had wanted to explain that to his brother, but Thor had had him muzzled, like some kind of animal, and being the coolly dignified sort that he was, Loki was not one to admit defeat so easily. So, he had kept quiet when questioned by others and lied when questioned by Odin.

 

Not that Odin would have listened to the truth anyway, or believed it.

 

The door opened. At first he ignored it, but as the person who had come in moved with a startling light tread across the floor of his cell, he glanced over at them...and then sat bolt upright in surprise.

 

He had never seen the girl before, she must be new, but she was extremely beautiful, even dressed in her guard’s garb and with a sword hanging from her belt.

 

“There’s no need to stare at me,” Georgiana said, stiffly, as she placed the tray down on the table. “Women can be guards too, you know, it’s not unheard of.”

 

She turned and was about to take her leave when Loki’s cutting tone caused her to freeze.

 

“Your gender has nothing to do with my staring,” he retorted with a scowl. “I was just surprised that someone so scrawny could rise to the rank of guard.”

 

Georgiana whirled about to face him. “Scrawny?” she bit back. “That’s rich coming from a Prince who barely comes up to his brother’s shoulder!”

 

In one movement, Loki was off the bed and standing directly in front of her, his green eyes blazing. Georgiana stood her ground, keeping one hand on the hilt of her sword.

 

“Compare me to that idiot again and you won’t live to regret it,” Loki warned.

 

Georgiana scoffed and looked him up and down. “I see no weapons for you to kill me with, _Your Highness.”_

 

Loki shot up a hand and clenched her throat. At the same time, Georgiana whipped out her sword and rested the blade against the arm holding her.

 

“All I have to do is squeeze,” Loki hissed, tightening his grip ever so slightly.

 

“All I have to do is cut,” Georgiana hissed back, pressing the blade closer against his arm.

 

Loki looked into her intense brown eyes and saw that she wasn’t bluffing. Slowly, and with obvious reluctance, he released her, and Georgiana cautiously lowered her blade. Annoyed at having been completely outwitted by a woman, Loki turned his back on her and went back to the bed.

 

“Leave,” he ordered.

 

“I planned to,” Georgiana shot back, and quickly left before he could try and strangle her again.

 

XXX

 

When Frigga came to visit him later, via illusion, the first thing he said to her was “I don’t like the girl who brought me my food.”

 

“Which girl would that be?” Frigga asked.

 

“The skinny one with blonde hair.”

 

“Oh, you mean Georgiana?”

 

Loki shrugged as if to say that her name didn’t matter to him one way or another. “She’s annoying. I don’t want her bringing me anything in future.”

 

Frigga nodded. “I’ll speak to your Father.”

 

Loki shot her a disdainful look, but she had already gone. Biting back a heavy sigh, he lay back on his mattress and attempted to get some sleep, a little annoyed when his thoughts kept swimming back to the beautiful guard who had threatened to cut his arm off if he hurt her.

 

He made up his mind there and then to hate her with a passion.

 

XXX

 

“I don’t think we should be sending Georgiana to bring him meals,” Frigga told Odin. “He’s clearly uncomfortable in her presence.”

 

Odin looked up at her. “He’s being punished, Frigga. You’d be better not to mollycoddle him.”

 

She sighed. “He is still my son, and I want him to be comfortable, even in prison.”

 

She left the Throne Room, and Odin pondered for a moment, before calling a messenger to seek out Georgiana. It didn’t take the messenger long to find her and send her to the Throne Room, where Odin was waiting for her. He smiled as she came in and got to his feet.

 

“Georgiana,” he began.

 

Georgiana stood to attention at once and nodded. “Your Majesty.”

 

“Georgiana, for your age you are one of the finest guards I have ever had the pleasure of employing,” Odin said. “You’re intelligent, loyal, brave and you can work wonders with a weapon. For those reasons, I am assigning you to be Loki’s official meal bearer indefinitely. Do you think you can handle such a task?”

 

Georgiana’s eyes widened, and she nodded. This was indeed a mark of Odin’s trust.

 

“I know that I certainly can, your Majesty, and I am honoured by your trust in me,” she replied, resolving to do this task to the best of her abilities.

 

The fact that the Dark Prince was somewhat handsome had nothing to do with it, she told herself. This was work, nothing more, and besides hadn’t he just threatened to kill her? She would do this if only to prove to him that she was in no way intimidated by him whatsoever.

 

Odin nodded at her. “Very good. You begin in the morning.”

 

Georgiana bowed and left.

 

XXX

 

Loki was both surprised and annoyed the next morning when she came in, just as before, carrying his meal tray. She took in his somewhat dishevelled appearance and bit back the urge to laugh.

 

“Did you sleep well, your Highness?” she asked, sweet as a dagger. “It must be so difficult adjusting to the bed of a common criminal when all you’ve known before has been a goose-down mattress.”

 

Loki scowled at her. “I thought I told them to get rid of you.”

 

“Well, they didn’t,” she shot back.

 

“Clearly,” Loki snapped. “I didn’t realise they were so desperate for staff.”

 

Georgiana whirled about to face him. “I’ll have you know, your Highness, that I was the best fighter in my group during the training course.”

 

“Then it must have been a very small group if _you’re_ the best they could turn out,” Loki taunted back.

 

Unable to control her temper, Georgiana seized the metal bowl of compote and made a show of deliberately dropping it with vigour to the floor. As she passed him, though, Loki simply smirked and said “Just as well, I hate the stuff.” She spun around only to be met with his harsh glare. “Leave.”

 

Frustrated, Georgiana did as he commanded, leaving Loki smirking at her discomfort.

 

XXX

 

The third day wasn’t terribly easy either.

 

All Loki had as a source of entertainment now were the books his Mother had chosen for him, and that was how Georgiana found him, sitting up on the bed with his head buried in one, so intent on his reading that he barely noticed she had come in.

 

Georgiana, on the other hand, was very interested in books, and soon curiousity got the better of her and she found herself craning to try and read the title of the volume he had in his hands.

 

“What are you staring at me for?” Loki snapped, finally looking up at her. “Haven’t you got work to get on with?”

 

Georgiana bristled. “I just wanted to know what you’re reading, _your Highness.”_

 

Loki scowled at her. “If I show you, will you leave?”

 

“Gladly,” Georgiana shot back.

 

Loki closed his book and held it up for her to see the title. She read it, nodded, and made for the door. On the way out, however, she couldn’t resist taunting him. “By the way, I’ve read that one. The butler did it.”

 

She didn’t laugh until she reached the corridor, and then, unable to resist seeing what he made of her joke, she crept closer to the open window of his cell, concealing herself behind a pillar and peeking out, just in time to see Loki cast the book across the room with a rather irritated expression on his face. That alarmed her. It had only been a joke.

 

Perhaps she ought to explain to him next time.

 

XXX

 

She had her apology all ready as she made her way into the cell with the tray, but when all Loki did was ignore her as she came in, she lost her nerve, and finally blurted “It was only a joke, you know.”

 

“What?” With irritation in his voice as he said it, Loki looked over at her.

 

Suddenly nervous, Georgiana brushed her hair out of her eyes and stammered “About the book. The butler didn’t do it. It was just a joke. You know, because people always say that in murder mysteries, the butler did it, because he’s always the first one you suspect...” She trailed off, regained some confidence and added “It was just a joke. I didn’t expect you to throw the book across the room.”

 

Loki stared at her, incredulously. “You’ve been spying on me?”

 

Realising her mistake too late, Georgiana stammered “No! I only-!”

 

“Oh, is this Odin?” Loki scowled at her. “Not bad enough that he taunts me by making you bring me my meals, he also sends you spying on me too? Typical!”

 

“No, that was the first time,” Georgiana insisted, her cheeks heating up, although she had no idea why. “And the last!”

 

Loki glared at her and then looked sharply away from her. “Leave.”

 

Feeling like a complete fool, Georgiana did so, but not before adding “A “please” wouldn’t kill you.”

 

Or, she reflected, maybe it would.

 

XXX

 

Loki wanted to kick himself. Why had he reacted like that? Why couldn’t he have just laughed about her teasing, made out that he hadn’t really believed her after all, or come back with some witty remark, or another excuse, like he was throwing the book to kill a spider or something? After all, the girl had gone out of her way to apologise to him for it, he should have just accepted that and moved on.

 

But no; the only thing he had picked up on was the fact that she knew he had thrown the book, and he had snapped at her for it.

 

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It didn’t help their situation much that she was so beautiful, and her eyes were so...so expressive, it made it harder to hate her.

 

Loki didn’t do apologies himself, not really, not in the traditional saying “Sorry, please forgive me,” sense, but he decided to try and make her feel better about it, in his own way. Not saying anything biting to her would be a start.

 

When she came in, though, it was hard to get anything out at all, because he suddenly found himself captivated, temporarily, by her every move as she walked across the room, not looking at him, and placed down the tray on the table. She turned to him when he wasn’t expecting her to, and he quickly snapped shut the book he had been reading, the paper slicing his finger in the process.

 

“Ow!” he muttered, annoyed at himself for having done it.

 

Georgiana moved forwards. “Are you alright?”

 

“Why do you care?” Loki snapped, and immediately regretted it, after all, he was more angry at himself than her.

 

Georgiana flinched but her voice was steady when she answered “Because that could get infected, and you’re technically my responsibility.”

 

Loki softened and looked up at her anxious expression. “It’s fine,” he said in a gentler tone. “Nothing I can’t heal myself, with magic.”

 

As she nodded and moved to the door, he called after her.

 

“Georgiana, wait.”

 

Surprised, she stopped and turned to him. Loki fixed his face into what he hoped was a friendlier expression. “Thanks for caring,” he said, sincerely.

 

“How do you know my name?” Georgiana asked.

 

He offered her a mischievous smile. “I have my ways.”

 

His smile did something to her that she immediately scolded herself for, and she gave an awkward nod and a small curtsey before leaving the cell. Loki smiled to himself. Maybe she wasn’t so annoying after all.

 

XXX

 

Georgiana couldn’t believe it. How on Asgard could she let her guard down like that? To make her feel so awkward, to become speechless in his presence?

 

He was mischievous, she reminded herself, one of the reasons he was called the Dark Prince. He could do things like that to people, manipulate them, toy with their emotions, and it was partly her own fault for having given him an opening.

 

She resolved to be firmer in future. After all, he was evil, he had killed people, and hurt others, and as one of the AllFather’s best guards, it was her job to stay focused and not give him the power he had once had over people like her.

 

It was all going well the next day, until he actually spoke to her.

 

“Bad day?” he asked, lowering his book.

 

Georgiana frowned and turned to him, feeling it would be rude not to answer, even to him.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

Loki shrugged. “Just wondered why you hadn’t said anything yet.”

 

Georgiana searched for a suitable answer but all she could find was “I didn’t know we were still on speaking terms.”

 

To her surprise, Loki chuckled, softly, and closed his book. “You’re a tough one to break down, Georgiana, I’ll give you that.”

 

Georgiana tried not to smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment, your Highness.”

 

“You should, I rarely give them.”

 

“Well, in that case, I am honoured.”

 

What was she doing? Why wasn’t she being firm with him? She was supposed to be being firm with him, and yet here she was trying to engage in witty banter with him.

 

A part of her knew why. She couldn’t deny that for all his faults he was extremely handsome, his eyes so captivating, his smile so mesmerising, his voice smoother than the smoothest lullaby. If she had been a weaker sort, she would have felt weak at the knees at that moment.

 

Loki smiled and she felt that his expression was saying more than he meant it to. Clearing her throat and attempting to appear professional still, she smoothed down the front of her jerkin, not noticing the way Loki’s eyes followed her hands when she did that, and quickly stood to attention.

 

“Well, since I assume there’s nothing else, I’ll leave,” she announced, making her way to the door.

 

“Wait.” Loki’s voice stopped her. “Just tell me one thing first.”

 

Georgiana didn’t turn around, because something told her that if she did he would walk right up to her and she would be lost in those tantalizing green eyes of his, and she would not give him the satisfaction of holding power over her.

 

“What is that, your Highness?” she asked.

 

A little annoyed that he had to talk to her back, but not showing it, Loki asked “How exactly did someone like you become a guard?”

 

Georgiana tensed and he noticed the way her fingers stiffened and then flexed, as if she was remembering something horrible.

 

“It’s not a tale I care to reminisce over, your Highness, I’m sorry,” she said.

 

Loki nodded. “Very well. I won’t ask again.”

 

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” Georgiana said, turning her head to him and almost jumping out of her skin at how close he was standing to her. To her alarm, he reached out and took hold of a strand of her golden hair, holding it at eye level. At once, she whipped her sword free and had the blade to his throat before he had time to blink. Seeing again that she wasn’t bluffing, and noting the look of terror in her eyes, Loki smirked and dropped the strand, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender. Georgiana eyed him carefully, wondering what had come over him, why he had suddenly touched her like that.

 

The way _he_ had once touched her.

 

“Never do that,” she hissed, “if you value your life as much as I assume you do.”

 

“You know, you’re very attractive when you’re angry,” Loki replied, with an easy smile.

 

Taken aback by the compliment, Georgiana lowered her sword. “Thank you,” she stammered. Seeing no other option, she quickly turned and hurried from the cell.

 

Bewildered, Loki lowered his arms. Whatever had happened to her in a previous life to make her react like that, one thing was clear, it must have terrified the life out of her.

 

And it was probably one of the contributing factors to her becoming a guard in the first place.

 

Cinnamon, he noted, lying back down on his bed, that was what her hair smelled of, cinnamon.

 

XXX

 

Georgiana all but ran to her room, the one place in the entire palace where she actually felt safe. Leaning against the door, she breathed out and closed her eyes. Perhaps Loki hadn’t known what that kind of gesture could do to her, she reasoned, or perhaps he did, there was no way of knowing for certain, but it had brought back a flood of memories that she had thought she had left buried, locked away in a box in her mind that was never to be opened ever again.

 

She didn’t want to cry, but here she was safe to, she reminded herself, safe from the prying eyes of her fellows who would love nothing more than to see her let her guard down in public, even just once. Giving in to her emotions, she slid to the floor and wept.

 

XXX

 

“I want to apologise,” Loki said to her the next day.

 

Georgiana was surprised by that, since it was a truth universally acknowledged that the Dark Prince never apologised to anyone, not sincerely at any rate.

 

“For what?” she asked, forgetting to add “Your Highness” after it.

 

“For whatever I did to you yesterday that caused you to put a sword to my throat,” Loki replied.

 

Georgiana gave a shrug. This would be interesting. “Go on, then,” she said, folding her arms.

 

Loki frowned. “What?”

 

“Apologise to me. You just said you wanted to.”

 

His look of confusion was quickly replaced with a smirk. “I said I wanted to, I didn’t say I was going to.”

 

For some reason, that made her feel sadder than before, so, with a sigh, Georgiana turned to leave.

 

“Can we not do this?” Loki asked, causing her to stop in her tracks.

 

She spun around to face him. “Do what?”

 

“This.” Loki gestured to the space between them. “Whatever it is we’re doing.”

 

Georgiana frowned. “I need to get back to work,” she said, making her way swiftly to the door. Before she got there, however, Loki crossed the space between them and leaned one arm on the cell wall, blocking her way.

 

“No, you don’t,” he said.

 

Georgiana scoffed, indignantly. “Let me through, _your Highness,_ or I’ll be forced to used force on you.”

 

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Go ahead. I could use the distraction.”

 

Feeling at a loss that her bluff hadn’t worked, Georgiana felt for her sword, but her hand just grasped empty air. She looked down and saw that her scabbard was empty.

 

“Looking for this?” Loki smirked, holding it up. Georgiana blanched and snatched for it, but Loki pulled it out of her reach. “Not so fun when the tables have turned, is it?”

 

Her fighting instincts kicked in, and Georgiana lunged for him. Loki was taken by surprise for a moment as she managed to knock him to the ground, but he quickly gained the upper hand and pinned her down, his hands holding her wrists firmly so that she couldn’t hit him. Indignantly, Georgiana brought up her knee and caught him in the stomach, prompting him to let go of her, and she quickly rolled out from under him, snatched up her sword and pointed it at him, gasping heavily.

 

“If you ever try anything like that ever again!” she panted.

 

Loki gave her a pitying look, and got to his feet. Her blows had only stunned him a little, not enough to seriously hurt him. Georgiana tightened her grip on the sword handle as she walked up to him, and to her surprise, he knocked her sword arm to one side.

 

“I just want to talk to you,” he snapped, his green eyes wild with something she couldn’t read.

 

Suspiciously, she lowered her sword. “Why?”

 

In one movement, Loki had put his hand on her chest and pushed her hand against the cell wall. “I need a reason?” They both looked down at where his hand actually was and he quickly dropped it. “Other than the fact you’re the only person in this entire palace who’s come to see me every day without fail?”

 

“Not by choice,” Georgiana sniped, and then suddenly wished that she hadn’t. The light seemed to die from his eyes for a second and she suddenly felt sorry for him.

 

“No, you’re right,” he said, softly. “Who’d willingly come to see a monster like me?”

 

Watching him move away from her, Georgiana felt troubled that she seemed to have upset him all of a sudden.

 

“I would,” she blurted, causing him to spin about to face her.

 

Loki smiled, sadly, at her. “No, you wouldn’t. You just said as much.”

 

Georgiana knew that she should leave, but she couldn’t bear to when he was like this. So, she sheathed her sword, walked firmly over to a corner of his cell and sat down, cross-legged on the floor, propping her chin into both hands.

 

Loki blinked at her. “What are you doing?”

 

“You wanted to talk to me,” Georgiana reminded him. “Let’s talk.”

 

Cautiously, Loki made his way over to her, wondering what the catch was. He sat down opposite her, mimicking her pose. They were silent a minute, and Georgiana felt his eyes on her, intense and thoughtful.

 

“Why did you react like that?” he asked. “When I touched your hair?”

 

Georgiana looked away from him. “It brought back a bad memory,” she said.

 

Loki nodded, understanding. “Someone hurt you. Who?”

 

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. He’ll never hurt me again.” Loki said nothing, only looked more interested, and she sighed. “Just an old lover, alright? Well, I say “lover,” more like...”

 

“Jailer?” She turned in surprise to Loki, amazed that he had somehow hit upon the exact term she had been thinking of.

 

“Right,” she stammered. “How-?”

 

A slow smile crept up his face. “It happens more often than you think around here.”

 

Georgiana cast her eyes downwards. “You talk like you’ve been hurt before...in love?”

 

“Sort of.” Loki shrugged. “If we’re talking families rather than lovers.”

 

“Oh.” Georgiana felt that they were onto a touchy subject. “I’m sorry.”

 

Loki looked at her in surprise. “Why?”

 

Georgiana was confused by this reaction. “Well, that’s just what people say, isn’t it, when they’re being sympathetic?”

 

Loki stared at her. “You’re showing me...sympathy?”

 

“Why is that surprising?”

 

“Not many do.”

 

They both fell silent, looking into one another’s eyes, and then Georgiana ventured “Maybe you’re not actually evil. Maybe you’re just...misunderstood.”

 

“Please don’t.” Loki got to his feet. “I hate that expression.”

 

He was smiling as he said it and he seemed more cheerful now than he had before, so Georgiana felt it was safe to leave him, and she did so, vowing to come and visit him for pleasure rather than work. Screw being firm with him, he needed someone to talk to.

 

And so did she.

 

XXX

 

Loki was beginning to see why prison was a punishment; because he was in serious danger of dying of boredom. Would it have killed someone to have given him something to amuse himself with other than a pile of books and a cup? There was a part of him that was beginning to yearn for fresh air and a horse to carry him far away from the stifling cell he had been confined to, especially whenever he heard the sounds of other prisoners shouting or screaming, sounds that made him wish for a sword to cut his own head of just so that he wouldn’t be tortured by it anymore.

 

He was tossing the cup in one hand, up in the air and catching it, in a bored manner, when he heard someone approach his cell. He didn’t think much of it at first, guards passed by his cell door all day and some of the night too, why should he think much of it? But when the door opened, he looked up in surprise to see Georgiana slip into the room.

 

She smiled at his bewildered look and then asked “What’s with the cup?”

 

Loki blinked at her and then managed to reply “I finished my book.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Loki sat up. “What are you doing here?”

 

She shrugged. “You said no one ever comes to visit you willingly, so here I am. Willingly.” Georgiana giggled because now he looked more confused than ever. “I enjoyed our talk earlier,” she added, drifting over to sit back in the corner like before.

 

Loki felt his heart turn over, although he couldn’t understand why. She had actually come to see him of her own accord. He couldn’t believe it.

 

He finally found his voice. “You can sit here if you want,” he said, patting the space on the bed beside him. She shot him a doubtful look that was also teasing and he smiled. “I promise I won’t try to kill you again.”

 

“You know what’ll happen if you do,” Georgiana replied, getting to her feet and coming to sit beside him.

 

“Well, I quite like my arms where they are,” Loki quipped, “so...”

 

Georgiana laughed, and he realised he liked hearing it. She had a pleasant laugh, like music. Suddenly the thought of talking with her was pleasurable.

 

“Why did you invade Earth?” she asked, abruptly.

 

Loki stiffened. “Are you still maintaining the delusion that I’m misunderstood as opposed to evil?”

 

Georgiana smiled, putting her head on one side. “I’m just trying to make you out, is all. When I came here, people were saying they were shocked because you and your brother had always been so close before and then-”

 

“We were close once but that was a long time ago,” Loki cut in, bluntly. “Before he became big-headed and ambitious and I got shoved to one side in favour of him by everyone else. And don’t you dare tell me you’re sorry,” he added, bitterly, as Georgiana opened her mouth to reply, “because it’s too late for anyone to change all that now.”

 

Georgiana looked at him, pityingly. “That’s understandable but I still don’t see how that led you to invade Earth.”

 

“How much do you know about what happened here before?” Loki asked.

 

Georgiana shrugged her shoulders. “Not much, really, only that you tried to take the throne when Thor was banished and Odin went into the Odinsleep. And that you fell off the Bifrost Bridge in the final confrontation with your brother.”

 

Loki’s expression was impassive, his voice betraying nothing, when he replied “I fell into the clutches of the Chitauri. They wanted to invade Earth and they needed me to help them. If I refused, well, it was kill or suffer slow death by constant torture. Once they have control of your mind, that’s it, you can’t think about anything else. What?” he added, when he saw Georgiana was smiling slightly.

 

“I think a part of you knew that your brother would come running to defend the realm, so you felt that you might as well comply with the Chitauri,” Georgiana replied, her smile tantalising. Did she know that it was making his stomach do summersaults inside him, making his heart race in a way he never knew it could?

 

“Well, you can think that if you like,” he replied. “It doesn’t mean it’s true.”

 

“Oh, come on!” Georgiana laughed. “People always say you’re the cunning one in the family, surely you must have planned it all out in advance! And I really can’t picture you have any truly evil intent inside you at all!”

 

She quickly stopped laughing, however, when Loki caught hold of her wrists and pinned her down to the mattress. She struggled and then stopped, seeing how close his face was to hers.

 

Loki smirked. “You’re afraid of me.”

 

Georgiana blinked. “I am not,” she insisted, wriggling to get free, but he wouldn’t let her up and nor would he let her reach for her sword.

 

“Intimidated, then,” Loki replied.

 

“Well, maybe a little.” Georgiana sighed. “Will you please let me up?”

 

She said it in a whisper and Loki realised that, in spite of her insistences to the contrary, the young girl was actually rather scared of him in that moment. He quickly let go and moved away from her. Georgiana sat up, wondering why her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. Surprisingly, strong as his grip on her had been, he hadn’t actually hurt her, but she felt shaken even so.

 

“Still think I’m not evil?” Loki asked.

 

He said it in a way that made her feel sorry for him.

 

“No,” she said, quietly, “you’re not. Believe me, I know what evil looks like, and you are not evil, your Highness.”

 

Loki looked at her in surprise as she anxiously tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear.

 

“Who hurt you?” he asked.

 

She shuddered and got to her feet. “I told you.”

 

“No, you told me it was a former lover, you didn’t say who it was,” Loki pointed out.

 

There were too many bad memories flooding back to her now, and she shrugged, attempting to sound brave as she stammered “Does it matter?” even though her eyes were full of tears.

 

Without thinking about what he was doing, Loki reached up and caught hold of her hand as she made to walk away from him. Georgiana looked at him in surprise. His expression was no longer smug or wicked, it was actually verging on the brink of caring, his eyes soft and appealing. She had never imagined that he could look so...so gently at someone like her, someone who by rights should be beneath him, after all he was a Prince and she was a guard, a servant, but it drew her to him like a moth to a candle. Gently, he gave a small tug on her hand and she slowly allowed him to pull her down next to him on the bed again.

 

His next move surprised her even more as he pulled her against him and held her, his hands softly cupping her shoulders. Georgiana leaned into him against her better judgement, pressing both her hands and her head against his chest and closing her eyes. She didn’t cry, but she felt like she needed some warmth from somewhere, even if it was from Loki.

 

Maybe _because_ it was from Loki.

 

“What are you doing to me?” Loki asked, suddenly. “I’m never usually this nice to _anyone.”_

 

Georgiana just laughed. “I told you you’re not evil.”

 

Loki smiled. “Or perhaps I am, and I’m just lulling you into a sense of false security so that you’ll let your guard down and I’ll be able to escape.”

 

“I don’t believe that,” Georgiana murmured. She felt like she might fall asleep in his arms, she couldn’t help it. His touch was alluring, not at all like she had expected.

 

“Why not?” Loki asked, his voice lower than usual.

 

“Because of your heart.” Loki’s eyes flew open. When he said nothing, Georgiana elaborated. “I can feel it. It’s racing.”

 

Abruptly, Loki pulled away from her and released his grip. Georgiana looked up at him, bewildered...and then remembered that there was a reason he was in prison. He had attacked Earth. He had killed innocent people. He couldn’t feel anything _like_ care towards another person.

 

Could he?

 

She bit her lip and got to her feet. “I should go.”

 

Loki wasn’t looking at her, his gaze fixed instead on a patch of floor that he suddenly seemed to find fascinating. She sighed, a small exhalation of frustration, and moved towards the door.

 

“You truly don’t believe I’m evil?” Loki asked, suddenly, causing her to stop.

 

Georgiana turned as he looked up at her, that same look as before, and something in her stirred, what? Pity? Sympathy? Empathy? Something along those line at any rate.

 

“You tell me,” she said, softly.

 

Loki relaxed and smiled at her. Uncertainly, she returned it, and then with what she hoped was a breezy “See you tomorrow,” she left the cell.

 

Once she was gone, Loki leapt abruptly to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. He realised he was shaking. All at once he felt strange, hot and breathless, his mind reeling, a jumble of emotions he had never known he could ever feel before. It was unnerving; all he really knew was that he suddenly had a desire to possess her, which was nothing new, since he often felt that way around beautiful women who wanted him, but what was new was the fact he also had a desire to be possessed by her.

 

A desire he had never felt before.

 

“What is she doing to me?” he groaned.

 

XXX

 

When Georgiana came in the next morning, she was surprised to find him not sitting on the bed but rather on the ledge of the vast window of his cell, reading. That was new, she hadn’t imagined that he particularly wanted to be on display for his fellow cellmates to see, but then, not had she imagined that he might ever _hug_ her.

 

The memory made her blush.

 

Loki looked up as she put his tray down on the table. “Hello,” he said, his tone soft and when she looked at his expression, it was friendly, almost like he was pleased to see her.

 

“Hello,” she returned with a smile. “Um,” she added, awkwardly, for want of something to say, as she gestured to the tray, “you’ve got blueberries today. I think your Mother had something to do with that.”

 

Loki smiled as he got to his feet. “I like blueberries.”

 

“Me too,” Georgiana admitted, shyly.

 

“Do you want one?” Loki asked, offering her the bowl.

 

He was being very agreeable today, but Georgiana decided that it wouldn’t be tactful to point that out.

 

“Thank you,” she smiled, softly, taking one.

 

“Well, I have to check they’re not poisoned somehow,” Loki quipped.

 

Georgiana laughed. “Or laced with a truth potion.”

 

That was something Loki hadn’t thought of and he laughed too. It gave her a bit more confidence, so she added “Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. I wasn’t thinking-”

 

“Forget it,” Loki interrupted, calmly. “I overreacted.” Georgiana blinked at him. “I’m just not used to feeling so...vulnerable around other people.”

 

She smiled. “Well, we have that in common, I guess.”

 

Automatically she took another blueberry from the bowl still in his hands. Loki smiled at her, a genuine smiled, not a smirk, and she felt her heart stutter a little. Then, he gestured to her mouth.

 

“You’ve got a bit of juice,” he said.

 

Georgiana brushed a finger across her lips. “Gone?”

 

“No.” Hesitantly, Loki reached towards her. “May I?”

 

Why she suddenly trusted him, she had no idea, but she nodded, silently, and tried hard to ignore the shiver of anticipation that ran down her spin when he brushed the corner of her mouth, gently.

 

“I should go,” she said, quickly, ducking her head. “Work to do.”

 

She turned and headed for the door, not realising that she was leaving him looking like a lost puppy after her. Mentally pulling himself together, Loki, determined as ever to have the last word, turned away from her and said “Well, feel free to come back and munch the rest of my blueberries.” Georgiana burst out laughing and he turned to her in surprise, brow furrowed. “What?”

 

“I’m sorry,” Georgiana giggled. “That just sounded like an innuendo.” Loki flushed before he could stop himself and she smiled. “Thank you, your Highness; perhaps I will come back later.”

 

Loki watched her leave, and decided that he suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore. Not for food, at any rate.

 

XXX

 

“Georgiana?”

 

Georgiana turned in surprise, but it was only Einar, one of her fellow guards, coming up behind her. Instinctively, though, her hand had gripped the hilt of her sword, of which she was more protective since Loki’s success in taking it from her without her even noticing.

 

“Einar,” she greeted him. “What’s the matter?”

 

“I want a word,” Einar replied, falling into step beside her. “There have been a few rumours going around recently that you’ve been spending, well, shall we say an extended amount of time with the Dark Prince.”

 

“Oh?” Georgiana frowned, wondering where these rumours were coming from and tried to look as if she was surprised by their content. “Well, perhaps no one’s told them yet that I’ve been designated-”

 

“As the one who brings that traitor his meals, we know,” Einar finished. Something in the way he addressed Loki as a “traitor” made her bristle, even though it was true, and instinctively she wanted to hit him. But she restrained herself from doing so as he went on “And yes, understandably, such a task can’t be easy. But people are getting worried.”

 

“People?” Georgiana repeated, quickening her pace a little. “Which people would those be?”

 

“Well, me for a start,” Einar admitted. “I mean, you can’t really trust him. They don’t call him the Prince of Lies for nothing, you know.”

 

“I’m well aware of that,” Georgiana replied, steadily.

 

“Yes, but you’ve not been here as long as the rest of us-”

 

“I’m quite capable of taking care of myself, you know!”

 

Einar flinched at her fierceness. “I know that, Georgiana, Norns, everyone here knows that. I’m just asking you to be careful, that’s all. Don’t get sucked into his web. He’s devious.”

 

Georgiana gave him a sideways look. “Have you ever actually _talked_ to him?”

 

Einar scoffed. “Of course I have!”

 

“I mean a real conversation, not just taking orders,” Georgiana persisted.

 

Einar closed his eyes in dismay. “Oh, Gods, you’ve fallen!”

 

Georgiana gaped at him. “No, I haven’t!”

 

“You’ve fallen for that fake charm he can put on! Georgiana, what are you thinking?” Einar exclaimed.

 

Georgiana swiftly drew her sword and had him pinned up against the wall before he could blink. “I have not fallen for anything! Do you honestly think I’m so unprofessional that I would forget myself for the sake of a mere _man?!”_ Einar stared at her, completely thrown by her reaction, an overreaction in his view, but he held his tongue for fear of losing it if he pointed this out to her. Her breathing was coming in steady pants. “I swore to myself that I would never fall in love again after the disaster it brought me last time, and I stand by that promise to myself!”

 

Slowly, she released him and sheathed her blade. Einar held up his hands, defensively. “I stand corrected. You surprise me, though, you wouldn’t have been the first to have been taken in by him.”

 

“I haven’t been taken in by anything,” Georgiana replied, coolly. “Love is for fools.”

 

She missed the hurt look in his eyes when she said that as she turned away from him and strode confidently down the corridor, making up her mind. Tonight’s pleasure visit to Prince Loki’s cell would be the last. There was too much at stake to keep it up.

 

XXX

 

He was reading again when she came in, at least that was how it looked, although he hadn’t been able to concentrate on the story for the last two hours, his mind too much on the prospect of seeing her again. It was a different book from that morning, she noted, and that made her feel a bit down. At this rate, he would have read every book in his cell by the end of the week, and then what? He must miss the library terribly.

 

“Maybe I should start bringing you something else to do,” she greeted him.

 

Loki looked up at her and smiled as he closed the book. “I’m fine. Thanks for the offer, though.”

 

Georgiana took a deep breath and rubbed the back of her neck, feeling awkward in what she had come here to say. “This can’t keep happening, I’m afraid. Me spending so much time here. It’s got to stop.”

 

Loki frowned and got to his feet. “Why?”

 

“Because people are starting to notice,” Georgiana replied, sheepishly, not looking at him. “And talk.”

 

“Let them talk,” Loki replied, carelessly.

 

Georgiana looked up and saw that he was standing right in front of her. She met his intent gaze steadily. “Your Highness,” she said, firmly, “I can’t let anything get in the way of me doing my job. If I do that, I’ll be thrown out, and I’ve nowhere else to go.”

 

“And us talking gets in the way of you doing your job?” Loki asked, his voice just as steady as hers.

 

“It distracts me,” Georgiana insisted.

 

He grinned, suddenly, at her, his expression playful. “I distract you?”

 

“Yes, you do, with your words,” Georgiana replied, trying hard not to get sucked into this, “and your manner-stop looking at me like that!”

 

It was no good, she began to laugh, she couldn’t help herself, not when he had that look on his face, and she was trying to be firm...the situation was just...funny.

 

“Georgiana.” Loki’s words brought her back to herself. “Admit it. You want this.”

 

“What; I want you making me laugh?” Georgiana asked, sobering up.

 

Loki raised his eyebrows at her. “I make you laugh?”

 

“Well, yes, you just did,” Georgiana pointed out.

 

Loki smiled and elaborated. “You want someone to talk to, and so do I. What’s wrong with that?”

 

Georgiana ducked her head, not meeting his eyes. “Why me?” she asked. “Why not someone else?”

 

“You interest me,” Loki replied, simply. Georgiana glanced up to see him reaching out a hand to her. Automatically she flinched. “Your hair’s in your eyes, it’s annoying me,” Loki stated, brushing a stray strand out of her face.

 

Georgiana frowned at him. “Why did you touch my hair like that, the first time?”

 

“I was trying to figure out what it smelled like,” Loki replied. “I caught a whiff of it when you walked past. Not knowing was irritating me.”

 

“Oh.” If it had been anyone else saying that to her, she would have thought it strange, but somehow with Loki, it seemed normal. But then, she reminded herself, he wasn’t quite like the rest of them. “It’s cinnamon, the soap I use.”

 

“I know that now,” Loki said, moving back from her.

 

Unsure of herself, Georgiana moved to the bed and sat down.

 

“It suits you,” Loki added, and she glanced up at him.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well, it’s strong,” Loki smiled, stepping up to sit beside her, “and sharp, and warm, and a lot of people can’t resist it.”

 

Georgiana blushed. “Are you saying I’m sharp?”

 

“Sharper than your sword,” Loki confirmed, and she giggled, nervously.

 

She couldn’t walk away from this, how could she? Wicked as people said he was, Loki was...interesting, in fact seeing him every day had turned into the highlight of her time living in the palace. And he did genuinely seem to like her presence. The thought that Odin’s plan to punish his rebel son by sending the person who seemed to annoy him most to wait on him every day backfiring made her smile, although she didn’t know why.

 

Maybe because she was starting to feel sorry for Loki.

 

“You’re right,” she said, softly. Loki looked at her in surprise and she took a deep breath. “I do want someone to talk to. Even if it _is_ you.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Loki asked, and she laughed. Seeing she was teasing him, he was suddenly filled with an urge to pin her to the mattress again, like before, but he resisted this time, instead deciding that the best revenge would be to summon a few of the remaining blueberries from the bowl and launch them at her.

 

Georgiana abruptly stopped laughing and gasped as they splattered across her cheek. “You beast!” she exclaimed, indignantly, wiping juice from her face. Then she noticed Loki’s reaction to what she had just said. He had got to his feet, looking away from her, one hand flexing whilst he stared at the other one. “What is it?” Georgiana asked, puzzled by his sudden change in demeanour, he had gone from playful to...to what? Tense? Worried? Angry?

 

Loki glanced at her, his expression grim. “Don’t call me that,” he said, his tone slightly sorrowful.

 

“I’m sorry,” Georgiana stammered, getting to her feet. “It just came out.” She reached out and touched his arm, causing him to look at her in surprise. “Are you alright?”

 

Loki sighed. Why drag up the conversation of what he really was? It would scare her off.

 

“I’m fine,” he lied.

 

Somehow, Georgiana knew he wasn’t telling her the truth, but she nodded and dropped her hand from his arm. He could tell her in his own time, if he wanted to, that is.

 

“Well,” she said, awkwardly, “you know if you ever need to talk, I’ll listen.”

 

“Why?” Loki asked.

 

She managed a small smile. “Because you interest me too, your Highness.”

 

Loki found himself smiling back at her, although he still didn’t feel brave enough to tell her the truth. Well, what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her, after all.

 

XXX

 

“I fold!” Asger exclaimed, slapping his hand of cards down on the table. “There’s no beating this woman!”

 

Georgiana laughed as Dagfinn and Hege also laid down their cards. Dagfinn stretched with a loud yawn, and the barman, busily drying a tankard with a large rag, looked over at him curiously. Dagfinn made an apologetic gesture and stretched, feeling the satisfying ripple of muscles popping back into place.

 

“I’m beat,” he admitted, shaking his head. “Let’s call it a night.”

 

“Must we?” Hege sighed. “I had a four hour watch earlier, I think I’m entitled to more than one flagon of ale.”

 

“No, he’s right,” Georgiana agreed, sweeping up her cards. “The AllFather won’t thank anyone for turning up tomorrow morning with a hangover.”

 

“Fair point,” Hege agreed, pushing her chair back.

 

Asger stumped up to the bar and thrust down payment for their drinks, just as the door swung open. “You’re too late,” he grunted, without looking up. “We’re leaving.”

 

“Pity,” Einar smiled, although he didn’t look too disappointed, Georgiana noted. She tucked the cards back into her pouch and picked up her cloak.

 

“Besides, Hege,” she added, as if there had been no break in the conversation whatsoever, “some of us can’t go to bed right away tonight. Some of us have to bring the Dark Prince his evening meal.”

 

“Yes, and you can’t do that when you’re tipsy,” Dagfinn agreed, stretching his arms above his head. “He could try and take advantage of you.”

 

Georgiana smiled. “Well, even if he did, he wouldn’t get far.”

 

Asger laughed and made his way out of the tavern. Dagfinn and Hege followed but Georgiana found her way barred by Einar. “Look, about earlier,” he began.

 

“Forget it, I already have,” Georgiana replied, coolly, making to duck past him, but he caught her arm.

 

“Georgiana, all I’m asking is that you be careful.” His eyes were wide and appealing. “He’s devious, after all, and, well, people here care about you, and don’t want to see you get hurt.”

 

“I’m not going to get hurt,” Georgiana insisted. “Not by him, any road.”

 

“You can’t know that.” Einar sighed and dropped his hand from her arm. “Just...just don’t push away the people who...who love you, is all.”

 

Georgiana blinked at him. “Like who?”

 

Einar flushed. “Well...like me.”

 

She was taken aback, although she didn’t show it, her face remaining impassive despite the awkward position he had just put her in. Einar could be sort of sweet at times, she supposed, but he was also somewhat annoying, and bland in personality. For him, everything had to be just so; there were only two states of mind, good and evil, and nothing in-between. He stuck too closely to the old traditions of Asgard, too afraid to break the rules, and sadly in his nice ways, he reminded her too much of the one who had hurt her before, well, before he had hurt her, back when he had originally tricked her into believing he was a good person.

 

The only way to rebuff him kindly was to break his heart.

 

“You love me?” she repeated, her tone indifferent, as if she couldn’t care less.

 

Einar sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Yes, I do.”

 

Georgiana smiled and stepped closer to him, leaning up to whisper in his ear. Einar looked hopeful, until he heard what she whispered, whereupon his face dropped.

 

“Then you’re nothing but a fool.”

 

Georgiana pulled back with a wicked little smile and pushed past him. “Come on,” she called, “or you’ll be out of a job if you dawdle.”

 

Einar followed like a scolded puppy. It occurred to Georgiana suddenly just how much she had enjoyed that, putting him down, even though she was by no means a malicious person.

 

Then again, after her ordeal, she had toughened up, and not just in mind and body. Her heart had hardened as well.

 

But then why was she so ready to let Loki in?

 

Perhaps because he was like her, vulnerable, used, misunderstood, underestimated...well, the list was endless.

 

She left Einar at the palace steps and went to collect Loki’s supper tray before making her way to the cell. She found him inside, sitting by the window reading again, and he looked up in surprise as she came in.

 

“I thought you weren’t coming,” he greeted her, casually, eyes back on his book.

 

“I was out with some of the others, having a drink,” Georgiana replied, putting his tray down on top of the other, empty one.

 

“Drinking on the job, isn’t that an offence?” Loki quipped.

 

“Not when you’re officially off-duty, it isn’t,” Georgiana returned, straightening up and patting her pouch, the cards jumping about inside.

 

Loki glanced up at her. “What’s that?”

 

“What?”

 

“What you’re concealing on your person.”

 

“I’m not concealing anything.”

 

Loki closed his book and sat up with a wicked smile to match the one she had just given Einar. “In your belt-pouch.”

 

“Oh, just playing cards,” Georgiana replied, drawing out the pack.

 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “You gamble?”

 

“Sometimes,” Georgiana shrugged. “Mainly, though, I just play for fun.” Shuffling the cards automatically in both hands, she added “Do you play?”

 

“I’ve dabbled,” Loki replied.

 

Georgiana moved to sit on the floor in front of him. “Show me,” she challenged. “But I warn you, your Highness, I’m good.”

 

Loki smiled as he sat down opposite her. “I don’t doubt it, but so am I.”

 

Ten games later, Georgiana realised that he hadn’t been bluffing, even though she had managed to beat him three times in a row. She threw up her hands. “Unbelievable! I’ve been playing since I was six!”

 

Loki chuckled. “Well, you’ve bested me more times than my brother ever has, so that’s something.”

 

With a smile, Georgiana swept up the cards, and then realised something. “Oh, Hel! How long have we been doing this?”

 

Loki shrugged. “About two hours, give or take.”

 

“Two hours?” Georgiana scrambled to her feet. “I should have been in bed at sundown! This is your fault!”

 

“Actually, if you hadn’t been so determined to beat me constantly, you could have gone earlier, so it’s technically _your_ fault,” Loki smirked, getting to his feet.

 

Georgiana scowled up at him. “Not that you’re gloating over being right or anything?”

 

“Of course not,” Loki replied, his smirk still present.

 

Somehow Georgiana couldn’t help smiling. He had a way of doing that to her, she realised, and she realised also that, even though she knew it was wrong, she was rather attracted to him. And it wasn’t just his looks, she would never make that mistake again, it was something about him. It was like, being with him like this, he was baring his soul to her and she was seeing what he always kept hidden in front of everyone else, like he had dropped all illusion and she was seeing the real him.

 

He didn’t hide in front of her.

 

She realised she was staring at him and took a step backwards.

 

“Well, I hope you sleep well tonight then, your Highness,” she replied, tucking the cards back into her pouch and making her way to the door as quickly as possible without making it look like she was retreating.

 

“Do I scare you?” Loki asked, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to him with a frown to see him looking slightly worried that he actually did scare her, and she felt a twinge inside her heart, a rush of pity for him. “Tell me the truth.”

 

Georgiana went quickly up to him, and Loki looked at her in surprise as she came very close to him with confidence, something any other person he knew rarely did in his presence.

 

“Not anymore,” Georgiana replied, looking his straight in the eyes, and then she threw him even more by flinging her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Loki was bewildered. People rarely hugged him, and he had certainly not expected such a thing from a tough warrior like her, but here she was, holding him. A rush of warmth shot through him as he hesitantly brought his arms up and wrapped them around her waist. Georgiana closed her eyes, briefly, and then pulled away from him. She smiled at his still startled look and when he returned it, she let go of him and made her way to the door and through it, without looking back.

 

Screw Einar, it was Loki’s heart that was worth protecting.

 

XXX

 

 _Why am I letting this happen?_ Loki asked himself. _Why am I letting this girl in?_

 

He knew the answer really. Georgiana was a puzzle to him, a riddle to be unravelled, an enigma to be solved. He still couldn’t work out for the life of him how someone like her could have become a palace guard, not because she was a woman, but because she was beautiful enough to be a duchess or a princess, or even a queen.

 

 _His_ Queen.

 

Loki abruptly threw himself into an upright position on the bed. Where the Hel had _that_ thought come from? Alright, she was beautiful, and perhaps not as irritating as he had originally thought, and certainly not as empty-headed and vain as most women he usually met, but that didn’t mean...

 

Or did it?

 

He pushed that thought to one side. What was he thinking? There was no way she could ever see him in that way, much as he might want her to, and if she ever found out that he was actually a Frost Giant, well, it would scare her away for good.

 

And he didn’t want that.

 

When she came in, carrying his food, she found him pacing, which surprised her since he was usually sitting somewhere with a book. In fact, he was so deeply absorbed in thought that he didn’t notice she had come in until she touched his shoulder. He jumped and spun around, and Georgiana laughed.

 

“Easy! If I’d wanted to attack you, I wouldn’t have let you know first!”

 

A little annoyed at having being frightened by her, Loki recovered his dignity quickly. “I didn’t hear you come in,” he admitted.

 

“I can see that,” Georgiana smiled, fighting the urge to tease him for being so easily startled. He had suffered enough, she decided, without her adding insult to injury.

 

He shot her a mock scowl followed by a smile and then moved past her to sit down. “I have a very complex problem on my mind.”

 

Frowning, Georgiana turned to him. “What sort of problem? Perhaps I can help.”

 

“I should hope so,” Loki smirked. “You _are_ the problem.”

 

Georgiana looked confused. Loki patted the space on the bed beside him and against her better judgement, Georgiana allowed herself to accept his invitation. Facing him, she noticed that his green eyes were intense and focused, staring into her own, studying her.

 

“What is it about you?” he murmured. “What is it that keeps drawing me in? Why do you interest me more than anyone else I’ve ever met before?”

 

Georgiana knew she was blushing. She couldn’t help it, not when he was looking at her like that.

 

“You tell me,” she murmured. “Why is it _you_ intrigue _me?”_

 

They were sitting quite close together, she realised, and she noted too that she had no desire to pull away. She...liked it. She liked being this close to him.

 

Why?

 

Loki shrugged, thoughtfully. “Perhaps some questions have no answers.”

 

“Perhaps,” Georgiana agreed. “Or perhaps you’ve put some kind of spell on me,” she added, her voice steadier as she realised she was in serious danger of getting too lost in his eyes. As she spoke, she dragged her eyes away from his and brushed her hands on her jodhpurs in a business-like manner.

 

Loki smiled. “I doubt I have the power to do that.”

 

“No?” Georgiana put her head on one side. “When _you_ are the most magically-skilled of the all the Aesir? Everyone knows that-”

 

“I’m not Aesir,” Loki cut across her.

 

She frowned. “Wh-what?”

 

“I’m not Aesir,” Loki repeated. He hadn’t meant to say it, it was automatic response now to whenever anyone made that mistake, but now that he had said it, well, there was no taking it back. She might as well know. He sighed. “I look like one, but I’m not. And that’s the reason I tried to take over Asgard.”

 

“I don’t understand,” Georgiana stated, her confusion deepening. “What are you, then?”

                                                                                                                                    

“A monster,” Loki answered, before willing the Jotun form to reveal itself to her.

 

Georgiana gasped, as he had known she would, a sharp intake of breath, but she didn’t back away or run. She stared at him without blinking and then stammered “You’re a Frost Giant?”

 

Loki frowned at her. “You’re not running?”

 

“Well, I’ve never actually seen one before,” Georgiana replied, hesitantly. “I always thought they were bigger than that.”

 

“Don’t rub it in,” Loki sighed, and she winced, realising the truth.

 

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, and she reached out to touch his hand.

 

Loki backed away from her. “Don’t. I’ll burn you.”

 

Georgiana reached out even so and touched his arm through his tunic. She could feel cold radiating from him, but it wasn’t burning her. She gave his arm a small squeeze, and Loki turned his palm upwards to grasp her arm back, saved from burning her by her leather arm guard. He met her gaze and saw sympathy in her eyes. Slowly, shifting back to his Aesir form, he got to his feet, bringing her up with him, never once losing eye contact with her. Both knew that their own hearts were racing, and they could feel the other’s pulse through their clothing.

 

Racing.

 

Loki made the first move and she made no move to stop him. He leaned forwards and she turned her head to accommodate him, her eyes fluttering shut when his lips met hers. His kiss was gentler than she had imagined, softer than she was used to, and she wanted it, she wanted him kissing her. They remained as long as possible like that, like some Midgardian statue of two lovers kissing, lips pressed together, hands touching, for after Loki had shifted back to his Aesir form, he had slid his hand into hers, his palm pressed against her fingers, and then when both felt that they might burst from the intense pressure building up inside them, they pulled apart.

 

Neither of them said anything. Was there even any need for words? Loki was looking at her as if silently asking if what he had done was alright, or if it had been out of line, and then Georgiana realised that that was exactly what he was doing. And he needed an answer.

 

She smiled.

 

Loki relaxed.

 

He dropped his hand from hers.

 

The door opened and they both move further apart as Einar stuck his head into the room. “Georgiana, you’re wanted in the Throne Room.”

 

Georgiana stared at him. “What for?”

 

Einar shrugged. “The AllFather says “Urgent.”

 

With a shrug, Georgiana moved to the door, but she waited until Einar wasn’t looking at her to shoot Loki an apologetic look.

 

“Tonight,” Loki mouthed at her.

 

She nodded and closed the door, turning to Einar.

 

“Is it everyone wanted in the Throne Room, or just me?” she asked.

 

Einar looked apologetic. “You’re not wanted in the Throne Room. I wanted a word with you.”

 

Georgiana glared at him. “You made up that lie just to talk to me? How dare you?”

 

“Georgiana-”

 

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it!”

 

She turned on her heel and marched away from him. For the first time in a long time, she had felt something, with Loki, something she hadn’t felt for anyone in a long time, and now it was ruined, ruined by Einar. She made up her mind not to speak to him ever again.

 

XXX

 

All Loki could think about was her, her sweet taste, the softness of her lips, the cinnamon scent of her hair, the smoothness of her pale skin, the glow of her brown eyes when the light caught them, the sensuous way her body moved without her even realising it, the way her hand had trembled slightly against his own when he had kissed her, every single detail about her that was perfect, her fiery attitude, her courage, her fighting skills, her vulnerability, her laughter like music, everything that made her Georgiana, the one woman who had been able to unlock his heart...

 

All Georgiana could think about was him, every detail of her mischievous, misjudged, beaten-down, constantly-trodden-on-and-often-forgotten-about-but-never-truly-evil Trickster Prince, the God of Lies and Mischief...and suddenly about how warm she was suddenly feeling and how the room was suddenly spinning and a sick feeling like poison threatening to burst from her in one foul rush like lave spilling from a volcano...

 

XXX

 

Loki looked up as the door to his cell opened, but instead of Georgiana, it was another guard, a man whose name he had never bothered to learn because he was so irritating, carrying his tray, which he promptly dumped on the table before spinning around and marching towards the door. Startled, Loki almost forgot how to speak until the man was almost at the door.

 

“Where’s Georgiana?” he demanded.

 

Einar shot him a contemptuous look and left the cell without answering.

 

Loki sat up, vigorously snapping his book shut, and got quickly to his feet. A part of him expected, and hoped, that Georgiana would suddenly come running in, explaining that she had been delayed for some reason and the AllFather had had someone else bring him his breakfast because he had thought that she wouldn’t turn up at all. When an hour of staring at the door yielded nothing, he felt a sudden hollow feeling inside his stomach, and a writhing like a pit full of angry snakes squirming about in his chest. For a second, he thought he might be ill, and then he realised. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in years, one that he had assumed had been forgotten along with his long lost fraternal love for Thor, and his once yearning for Odin to recognise that he was worthy to be his brother’s equal.

 

Worry.

 

He was worried.

 

About Georgiana.

 

 _I hope she’s alright,_ he thought. What could have happened? Had she been in some battle? Has Asgard been attacked without his knowledge and she had been hurt? Perhaps she was even lying in the Healing Room now. Oh, Norns, was she-?

 

He pushed that thought out of his mind. No, she probably had a perfectly good excuse for not turning up. Perhaps she had had some kind of family emergency she needed to attend urgently and hadn’t had time to notify anyone else. Perhaps the AllFather had called her to accompany him and his other soldiers on a quest away from Asgard. Perhaps he had even stopped assigning her to the be the one to wait on him, which, if it was true, would mean that she still may turn up tonight to see him, if she were able to.

 

That settled, he decided to eat and read, but when evening came around, and she still hadn’t appeared, worry set back in, along with paranoia that something was seriously wrong. Why had that other guard not answered what he had asked? Was he simply showing his contempt for the “traitor of Asgard?” Or did it mean something bad had happened to Georgiana?

 

 _Please,_ he prayed silently to whoever out there knew, _let her be alright._

 

XXX

 

It was that same sickness that had been going around lately, the Healers informed her when Georgiana opened her eyes and found herself being looked down on by them, Einar and Hege. Apparently she had fainted, a notion she had scoffed at - “That’s ridiculous!” she snapped, “only idiotic girls who wear corsets and have nothing in their heads go around fainting, and I am not one of _them!”_ – and Hege had found her after having knocked on her door, received no answer and gone into her room to check that she was alright. All the servants had had it, and now it seemed it was her turn.

 

“But I can’t be ill!” she insisted, trying to get out of bed, only to be fended off by the Chief Healer. “I have work to do!”

 

“I’ll be taking over your duties for the time being, the AllFather says,” Einar replied.

 

Wondering if this was his pathetic attempt to make up for ruining her moment with Loki, Georgiana scowled at him. “Don’t talk to me,” she hissed, before promptly throwing up in the bowl that the Healer nearest to her elbow was offering.

 

Of course, everyone brushed her anger at Einar off as bitterness that she was ill for once, since she rarely got ill and hated the thought of not working, so they didn’t read too much into it. Her sickness lasted for a whole week, during which time she was constantly badgered by Healers and Hege continually checking up on her, as well as bringing her food, which the sickness then promptly rejected after the first mouthful. By the time she was finally deemed well enough to get out of bed, she had never been gladder to get back to work. Her mind had been on Loki the whole time, hating the fact that she had got ill just after he had kissed her, knowing that he was waiting for her to return so that they could talk again about what had just happened.

 

Her days felt empty, she realised, without his presence. She missed talking with him, missed playfully bantering, missed seeing the hurt look in his eyes when they talked about a sensitive subject and her being the one to make that look go away.

 

Did he feel like that about her?

 

The morning she was deemed well enough to, she went straight to the AllFather to inform him that she could now relieve Einar of his duties, and having received his blessing, went straight to Einar to coldly inform him that she was well enough to work again, before making her way to Loki’s cell. To her surprise, she found him pacing again as she entered, only this time he did sense her presence. Turning, he looked at her, wondering for a second if he was dreaming. Nervously, because she was unable to read the look in his eyes, Georgiana set down the tray and offered him a tentative smile that she hoped was reassuring.

 

“Where the Hel have you been?” Loki exclaimed, crossing to her in three strides.

 

Georgiana jumped at his abruptness. “I was sick,” she said.

 

Loki breathed out and turned away from her. “Then why couldn’t someone have just told me that instead of just ignoring me when I asked?”

 

He seemed stressed, and it was suddenly obvious to her why.

 

“Were you worried about me?” Georgiana asked.

 

Loki didn’t answer straight away, and she took it to mean that he wasn’t going to either, so she shrugged and made for the door, feeling slightly disappointed.

 

“I missed you,” Loki said, suddenly, and she turned in surprise. Folding his arms, Loki turned his head to look at her. “It was strange not having anyone to talk to anymore.” He turned to look at her properly, turning his whole body to her. “Of course I was worried about you.”

 

Georgiana stepped up to him, knowing that she must be blushing the same colour as Thor’s cloak, but knowing too that there was something that had to be said.

 

“I missed you too,” she confessed.

 

They stared at one another for a brief second and then Loki seized hold of her, cupping her face, and crushed his mouth against hers. An enormous part of him expected her to push him away, maybe even whip out her sword to keep him at bay, but instead she gave a little moan and pulled him against her, backing up against the door she had just come through. Loki pinned her against it, keeping her between it and his body, and left her mouth to attack her neck with kisses that made all thought turn fuzzy.

 

_“Loki..!”_

 

It came out as a breathless moan as he sucked a particularly sweet spot on her neck. Ignoring the throbbing in his trousers, Loki kissed his way back to her mouth, cupping her face with both hands again.

 

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say my name?” he whispered, his breath hot and heavy against her lips.

 

“I think I can guess,” Georgiana gasped, yanking him even harder against her. All of her was just yearning for him right now, nothing else, just Loki, pure, mischievous, teasing, undeniable Loki.

 

Pressing another kiss against her lips, Loki picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist and carried her over to the bed, laying her down upon it and hovering above her. Georgiana’s eyes flew open as she suddenly thought of something and she grasped his shoulder as he peppered her throat in soft kisses. “Loki!”

 

“Please don’t tell me to stop,” Loki murmured against her skin. She smelled like Valhalla, like everything that was good.

 

“No, Loki!” She grasped the back of his hair and tugged, bringing his head up. “What about..?”

 

She nodded towards the window. Loki smiled down at her.

 

“Don’t worry about them. I’ve surrounded us with an illusion that hides us from them.”

 

“Oh,” Georgiana smiled, touched that he had thought ahead like that. It filled her insides with a warm feeling.

 

“You are mine,” Loki whispered, kissing her. “And I’m not sharing you with anyone.”

 

Georgiana gasped as he kissed her and then sighed in content. “I’m yours,” she whispered in confirmation. “Forever.”

 

XXX

 

She was aware of warmth. That was odd. All the other times she had ever lain with a man, there hadn’t been warmth, not like this. Come to think of it, though, there had never been cuddling either. She had never figured the Prince of Lies as a cuddler, but here he was, holding her close to him as if he would never let go of her. And to be perfectly honest, she didn’t really want him to either.

 

She was aware of him playing absently with a strand of her hair too, and for the first time she realised that she didn’t mind. Because he was different, he had surrendered his body and soul, his heart, to her, and she felt truly loved for the first time in her life.

 

“Loki?” she murmured.

 

His reply was a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m here, sweet one.”

 

“Shouldn’t that be “sharp one?” she couldn’t help teasing.

 

Loki laughed, softly. “Well, maybe, but you’re also sweeter than the most forbidden of fruit.” He looked down at her. “What is it?”

 

Georgiana took a deep breath. “Does the name William Cavendish mean anything to you?”

 

Loki frowned. _“Duke_ William Cavendish?” Georgiana nodded. “His name has cropped up more than once around the court, but the last I heard he was dead.” Georgiana nodded again, and he understood. “Wait... _he_ was your jailer?”

 

“I met him three years ago,” Georgiana replied. “At first, it was wonderful. He was so charming, and when I was completely under his spell, he managed to talk me into bed.” She sighed, and pressed closer to him. “When my parents found out, of course they threw me out, but he let me live with him. He said we didn’t need to be married, because what we had was worth more than anything a piece of paper could give us, and besides we had already broken the law about sex before marriage. I believed him.”

 

She was quiet a minute. Loki hesitated before venturing “What did he do to you?”

 

“Well, like I said, it was good at first,” Georgiana replied, “but then one night, well, he wanted it, and I wasn’t in the mood, and I told him so. I thought he’d understand and leave me to sleep, but he didn’t.”

 

Loki tightened his grip on her. “He raped you?”

 

Georgiana nodded, dully. “The first of many times. And whenever I tried to fight back, he hurt me. Eventually, I just gave up and let him do it to me.” She shuddered. “I tried running away, but he always caught up with me and that just led to more hurt. Soon he started limiting my movements, confining me to just the house at first, and then to just the bedroom. Anything I did, I had to ask his permission first.” She bit her lip. “I learned the hard way that he didn’t love me, he just loved what I could do for him, what I could give him. He didn’t love anyone, but himself.”

 

Loki was appalled. How could anyone do that to his Georgiana? “How did you escape?” he asked, his voice dry.

 

“Well, one day,” Georgiana replied, “I saw myself in the bathroom mirror, how thin and beaten down I was, and I said to myself “Enough. I’m not going to let him hurt me anymore.” And the only way to do that was to become obedient, give him what he wanted without complaint, even beg for it, which I hated doing, but he loved it. And I kept it up for a couple of months until eventually he began to trust that I was completely loyal to him and as the beatings stopped, he allowed me more time outside of the bedroom. I never went further than the grounds, of course; I had to make him think he’d finally won, subjected me to his will completely, and soon he started leaving me alone in the house without locking me in the bedroom. That was when I started to train myself to fight, through books and using anything in the house I could use as a weapon, mastering all the movements.”

 

“You taught yourself to fight?” Loki repeated, impressed.

 

Georgiana smiled. “For the first time in two years, I felt alive, and worth something. Of course, I was able to keep it all hidden from him, concealed it under the painted girlish smile when he bedded me, but secretly I was building up to the moment I could finally stand up for myself, the day he let his guard down. And when it came, well, it was the sweetest day of my life.”

 

“What did you do?” Loki asked.

 

“I waited until he was asleep,” Georgiana answered, “and then I got dressed and snuck into the adjoining bathroom. I’d concealed one of his swords there, he’d never noticed it had gone missing because he had so many of them. Then, I started to make up the fire. When one of the logs was completely engulfed in flames, I stuck the poker in it and made a noise to wake him up. He looked at me like I’d gone mad, and maybe I had, but if it was it was because of him, he drove me to it. I said “I’m done being yours, Duke; I’m done being the scared little girl that you beat down and abuse, that you rape for your own pleasure and toss to one side like a useless weapon when you’re done. From now on, I’m free, and you will never hurt me ever again.” He just looked at me, and said nothing, and then he growled and rushed at me. I threw down the flaming log from the poker, and the bedroom went up in flames. I ran for it and didn’t look back.” She shrugged against him. “As far as I know he didn’t make it out.” They were both silent a while and then she added “Well, with nowhere else to go, I decided to come to the one place I’d probably be completely safe, the palace of Asgard. I applied to be a soldier, but being the best of my group meant that I rose to the rank of guard. The rest you know.” She sighed. “Please don’t hate me.”

 

Loki looked down at her in surprise. “For what? Getting rid of the man who hurt you?”

 

“Technically, I killed him.”

 

“He was evil. Look at what he did to you.” Loki hesitated. “You don’t hate me for killing people, do you?”

 

Georgiana shook her head. “No. I probably should, but I don’t. I feel like I know you better than anybody, I can forgive you for what you did on Earth, because you didn’t have a choice. It was kill or be killed, like you said.”

 

Loki nodded and then kissed the top of her head again. “And it was the same for you.” Georgiana frowned up at him and he elaborated. “Georgiana, the man would have killed you the way he was treating you. Who’s to say that one day he wouldn’t have taken the beatings too far?”

 

Georgiana shivered. “You’re right. I hadn’t actually considered that.”

 

“You needed to set yourself free, and that’s what you did,” Loki murmured.

 

Georgiana nodded and then snuggled up to him. “Just...please don’t tell anyone that. Or about the rest. If they found out I was his whore, they’d look down on me.”

 

Loki pulled away from her, sharply, and looked straight into her deep brown eyes. “Don’t you dare call yourself that, Georgiana.”

 

She blinked at him. “Well...technically, I was.”

 

“No, you weren’t,” Loki replied. “How is what you and he did any different to what you would have done if you were husband and wife? You were his lover, Georgiana, not his whore.”

 

Georgiana managed a smile, touched by his words. “Thank you,” she whispered.

 

Loki stroked her hair out of her eyes, tenderly, his green eyes focused intently on her face. She was touched by that too, by the fact that he always looked at her face and not her breasts when he spoke to her, when he _was_ looking at her at any rate. And now, after what they had just done, he wasn’t looking at her with lust, but with something else, something almost like love.

 

If he _could_ love.

 

“Georgiana,” Loki murmured softly, “I know I’ve treated you awfully, and I actually threatened to kill you when we first met, but that was before I learned to care about you. You need to know now that I would never do anything to hurt you, and I would certainly never make you my prisoner.”

 

She looked away from him. “How do I know that? You’re a talented liar, after all.”

 

Gently, Loki lifted her chin so that her eyes were looking into his again. “For the one simple reason that, apart from telling you I was alright when I wasn’t, and you knew I was lying then, I’ve never once lied to you in all the time I’ve known you.”

 

Looking into his eyes, something told Georgiana that he really wasn’t deceiving her, and she reached up and gripped his fingers in hers. Einar was right; she had fallen, and fallen hard this time. And she would probably get her heart broken all over again at some point, but she didn’t care, because this time it was a risk that she was willing to take.

 

“Loki...” she began, in a whisper, her heart racing.

 

“You don’t need to say it,” Loki murmured, kissing her forehead. “I already know.”

 

XXX

 

It was a dark day, quite literally, for Asgard when the Dark Elves invaded, a few days after Loki and Georgiana’s first night, or rather day, of passion spent in his dungeon cell. All guards and soldiers were called upon to fight as Dark Elves and Kursed Warriors alike teemed into the realm intent on recovering the Aether, showing no mercy to any who crossed them. Loki watched them as they stormed through the dungeons, setting many other prisoners free, but ignoring him due to his Aesir appearance. Normally, he supposed, he would watch this scene with amusement, but it worried him knowing that Georgiana was out there. He tried to remind himself that she was tough, a fighter, she could take care of herself, but all the same, he hated not being with her, fighting alongside her, saving her if need be.

 

When the battle was over, and he was informed of Frigga’s death, every piece of his resolve crumbled, as was evident to anyone who watched him lash out with his magic and cause everything in the room to overturn itself. After the messenger had gone, and he was seated on the bed, undressing, in the midst of pulling off his boots, it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t asked after Georgiana in his anguish. Bitterly, he threw his boots across the room and got to his feet. Moving to the window, he ignored the crunch of broken glass underfoot and the pain it brought him. Nothing could erase the pain of having lost his adopted mother, the woman who had brought him up, and having almost certainly lost the woman he loved on the same day.

 

What was the point in going on after that?

 

Georgiana found him, when she was eventually able to get leave from Odin to go, sitting in a corner with one foot cut and everything in the room a complete wreck around him. At the sound of her hurried approach, Loki looked up in surprise, daring to hope.

 

“Georgiana!” It came out as a whisper as she flung herself down beside him, threw her arms around his neck and began to sob into his shoulder. In relief, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. “Norns, I thought...are you crying?”

 

Georgiana nodded against him. “Loki, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice muffled by his undershirt. “I didn’t get there in time...there was nothing I could do...”

 

His grip on her tightened. “I’m not angry with you, Georgiana. I’m just glad you’re alive.”

 

Pulling away from him, Georgiana wiped her eyes. She wasn’t just crying for him. The Queen of Asgard had always been good to her, she had been good to everyone who served under her husband, and she felt her loss just as much as he did. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she suffered. It was over so quickly.”

 

Loki nodded as he brushed her hair out of her eyes. Georgiana caught his hand, holding it against her cheek, tenderly. “What did they want?”

 

“As far as I know, the Aether.” Loki looked confused, and she elaborated. “That Midgard woman of Thor’s...somehow she’s got it in her veins...and they want it back...but she still has it now...I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

 

Loki thought for a minute. “Well, if I know my brother as well as I think I do, he’ll go against whatever Odin wants.”

 

“Odin says we’re to stay here,” Georgiana replied.

 

“Then it’s almost certain that Thor will want to leave, and take her with him,” Loki replied. “Take the Dark Elves on in a place that’s out of the way from anywhere, like...Svartalfheim.”

 

Georgiana frowned. “No one knows how to get there without using the Bifrost, and they can’t make Heimdall defy Odin’s orders for all the gold in the kingdom. It’s impossible.”

 

“Not when you know a secret way there,” Loki replied, his tone slightly mischievous in spite of his sorry state. “It’s my bet that Thor will soon turn up here and offer me a deal – show him the way to Svartalfheim and I’ll get revenge on the Dark Elves for the Queen.”

 

Georgiana’s eyes widened slightly. “He’ll get you out of here?” Loki nodded. “What do you want _me_ to do?”

 

“Stay loyal to me,” Loki replied, caressing her cheek, gently. “Don’t tell anyone about this. If you’re asked, swear you know nothing. Wait for me and I will come back for you.”

 

Georgiana nodded, loyally. “I will, Loki,” she whispered.

 

“That’s my girl,” Loki murmured, bringing her close and kissing her. Then, at the sound of footsteps approaching, he added “And that sounds like my brother now, so you’d best leave to maintain the illusion.”

 

Georgiana nodded and got to her feet. At the door, however, she turned to him. Loki glanced her way and offered her a reassuring smile, which she managed to return before slipping out of the room in time to hear Loki say “Thor. After all this time now you come to visit me. Why?”

 

XXX

 

It was over, apparently.

 

Georgiana had heard it from a few of her fellow guards, who had had it straight from Heimdall himself. Thor had saved Midgard once again and got rid of the Aether, and Malekith, and the rest of the Dark Elves and Kursed Warriors were now dead. Asgard was celebrating a victory to the eldest Prince, but all Georgiana was concerned with was whether the Youngest was alright.

 

There was no denying her love for him now. When she had been questioned, like so many by Odin, about Loki’s disappearance and Thor’s sudden flight from Asgard, she had so readily lied to him that she knew nothing about it, that Loki had seemed justly devastated by the Queen’s death when she had last seen him, but no more devious than usual, and that she hadn’t even known that Thor had gone to him after she had left, and that could have come from nothing but pure devotion to the Dark Prince.

 

If it _was_ wrong, she didn’t care. For the first time in a long time, she had allowed herself to love again, and this time she knew in her heart that it was reciprocated.

 

“Georgiana!”

 

Turning her head at the sound of her name being called, she was surprised to see Thor walking towards her, alone. She felt her heart begin to race with dread but she managed to conceal it as she went up to him.

 

“Good evening, your Highness,” she greeted him.

 

Thor smiled sadly at her. “Good evening, Georgiana. My Father wants a word with you in the Throne Room.”

 

Georgiana gave a stiff sigh that she didn’t mean. “No doubt something to do with your brother.”

 

Thor’s expression saddened. “Loki is dead.”

 

Georgiana stared at him and before she could stop herself she stammered “Dead? How?”

 

“We were fighting Malekith and his warriors. Loki saved me from a Kursed, but it killed him in the process.”

 

For a second, Georgiana felt like she couldn’t breathe, and she did her best to remain impassive and professional. “I’m so sorry,” she managed to whisper, her voice dry.

 

Thankfully, Thor took her reaction for sympathy rather than sorrow. “He died with honour,” he replied, before making his way past her.

 

Georgiana leaned against a pillar, unable to believe it. Not Loki, not Loki who was so skilled at fighting, who was so cunning and clever, a master of trickery, not Loki to whom she have given every inch of her love to. She wanted to burst into tears, it all felt like some wild dream, but she couldn’t cry, somehow.

 

Pulling herself together, she straightened up and made her way to the Throne Room, hoping to be able to deal with whatever Odin wanted as quickly as possible, and then she could cry for Loki.

 

He was sitting on the throne, Gungnir in hand, waiting for her. He smiled as she came in, and Georgiana wondered if he was putting on a front, masking his own mourning for his youngest son.

 

“Ah, Georgiana,” he greeted her.

 

Georgiana knelt before the throne, lowering her head respectfully. “You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?”

 

Odin got to his feet and stood over her. “I did.”

 

Georgiana hesitated before adding “I’m so sorry about Loki. I can’t imagine how it must feel to lose a spouse and a son in the space of a few days.”

 

Though she tried to sound brave, her voice trembled and this time she felt tears coming.

 

“Is it my imagination, Georgiana, or are you as upset about this as Thor?” Odin asked.

 

“No,” Georgiana insisted, quickly wiping her tears with her back of her hand and taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry, it’s just all sort of getting on top of me now, I suppose, first the Queen and now the Prince, there’s been too much death in this place recently, that’s all.” Taking a deep breath, she added “Sorry, what was it you wanted to see me about?”

 

“What would you say if Loki were suddenly to appear right now?” Odin asked.

 

Georgiana gave the answer she knew he would want to hear. “I would probably say “How on Asgard did you get out of your cell?” and then plan some way of arresting him and getting him back there, your Majesty.”

 

In her mind, though, she pictured herself running into his arms and clinging to him, whispering that she was his over and over again.

 

“Would you really?” came a voice that wasn’t Odin’s.

 

Georgiana gasped and raised her head. Loki was standing where Odin had just been, a wicked smile on his face as he looked down at her. Without waiting for his permission, she got to her feet, hardly daring to believe that wasn’t just some trick that was being played on her to get her to admit her true feelings for him.

 

“Loki?” she stammered.

 

“Missed me?” Loki smirked.

 

Hesitantly, Georgiana reached up and touched his cheek, making sure that he was really, truly there, and then a surge of anger at having been deceived seized her and she brought back her hand to slap him. Loki, however, was too quick for her and he stopped her hand just in time, catching hold of her wrist.

 

“Please don’t,” he said. “I’ve had my share of women slapping me already, thank you.”

 

Georgiana looked away from him. “I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered.

 

Loki released her wrist and brought his hand to her cheek, rubbing it gently. “It’s going to take more than a Kursed Dark Elf to bring me down, Georgiana.” Georgiana raised her head to look up into his eyes. “Besides,” Loki murmured, still caressing her gently, “I couldn’t die there. I had to come back here alive. I left something behind.”

 

Georgiana felt her heart rate pick up. “What was that?” she stammered.

 

“My heart,” Loki replied. “I left it here.” He raised his free hand and touched her chest. “With you.”

 

Georgiana gasped inwardly when he said that, but she remained calm as she said, softly, back “You mean you don’t have a heart in your chest at the minute? Here,” and she brushed her hand from her chest up to his. “Take mine.”

 

Loki smiled, a genuine smile meant only for her. “I missed you,” he said, still caressing her cheek. “Life has been so empty without you near me.”

 

Georgiana nodded, slowly. “Mine’s been hollow since you left too.” Then, she felt tears prick her eyes and she looked down again. “I’m sorry, it’s just when Thor told me...I suddenly realised how much you meant to me...how much I wanted your death to be a lie...”

 

Loki stepped forward and leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “Georgiana, I’m alive and so are you,” he murmured, “and I don’t want to go through another second of life without you by my side. Always.”

 

Georgiana looked up at him in surprise. “Are you proposing to me?”

 

Loki smiled at her. “Yes. Are you accepting?”

 

“Yes,” Georgiana whispered, and Loki finally kissed her. Georgiana forgot everything as she returned it, allowing him to dominate her mouth as he pulled her against him, and she flung her arms around his neck and clung to him, realising how much she had missed him. Loki picked her up and pulled her back onto the throne with him, straddling her on his lap. Georgiana moaned softly against his lips, remembering their first time; and then suddenly pulled away from him as a thought struck her. “Loki, where’s Odin?”

 

Loki shrugged, carelessly. “I’ve no idea. The room was empty when I came in, so I thought I’d take advantage of it.”Georgiana watched him carefully and he smiled at her. “I’m telling you the truth, my love.”

 

“Are you?” Georgiana replied. “How can I be sure, God of Lies?”

 

Loki chuckled, softly, and played with her hair. “Because I’ve got no reason to ever lie to you, Georgiana. Perhaps he’s fallen into the Odinsleep or something, but wherever he is, it’s got nothing to do with me.”

 

“So, what now?” Georgiana asked. “You take over Asgard?”

 

“Only with you by my side,” Loki replied, “my Queen.”

 

Georgiana raised her eyebrows and then smiled at his expectant expression. “Queen?” Teasingly, she leaned forwards and kissed him. “I like the sound of that.”

 

Loki smiled as her lips met his. Whatever would happen next, well, it didn’t really matter. They would face it together. This was a new start for both of them, a new chance to rule Asgard for him, a new chance for True Love for her, and they would both get what they were yearning for this time. Together, they would see it through until the end.

 

“I love you, Georgiana,” he whispered, running his hands through her hair.

 

“I know you do,” Georgiana whispered back. “I love you too.” Then, pulling away from him, she added in a shy murmur “Forever?”

 

“Forever,” Loki promised, kissing her again.


End file.
